Step by step Guide of activating a used iCloud Locked iPhone

Many people choose to buy a refurbished iPhone instead of the latest Apple’s iDevices in order to save money. This is extremely useful when you are on a low budget but in need of new iPhone. Why spend money on buying a brand new iPhone X when you can get a second-hand iPhone 7 at a much better price.

But there is always the danger of buying an iCloud Locked iPhone and you won’t be able to use it unless Find my iPhone is disabled. But how can you activate a used iPhone when iCloud Activation Lock is ON. Let’s find out!

What is the iCloud Activation Lock

Apple offers to their customers the best security feature ever created for a smartphone, the iCloud Activation Lock. It is also known as Find My iPhone but and since iOS 9 update it is almost impossible to hack it.

When someone buys a new iPhone he can activate Find My iPhone with his Apple ID and by setting his personal password. From that moment, this iPhone can only be activated with this Apple ID and password. If someone steals this iPhone, he won’t be able to use it (he won’t even be able to get to iPhone’s Home Screen) and on top of that, iCloud Activation Lock can also track down the stolen or lost iPhone.

So a thief (or whoever found a lost iPhone) can’t remove iCloud Activation Lock but this doesn’t stop him from selling it via an online market like eBay, Amazon or Craigslist or through a personal transaction. If you don’t check it BEFORE you buy it then the problem is now yours. But I will show you how to deal with it.

Before trying to activate a used iPhone

My first advice is to always IMEI Check a refurbished iPhone before you buy it. You wouldn’t end up with an iCloud Locked second-hand iPhone after all. Of course, when you buy a used iPhone from a local retailer or through a personal transaction always bring your SIM Card with you, use it with this iPhone and try to make a call. If you made the call then everything is fine or at least they seem fine.

Unfortunately, there are many other issues besides Find My iPhone Lock and some of them may appear even months after you bought a secondhanded iDevice.

How to IMEI check a refurbished iPhone

A full IMEI Check Service requires the iPhone’s IMEI number (click here and see how to find it out) and it will get you all the info below:

Contents of Full IMEI Check Report

SIM Lock Status: Find out if the used iPhone is network unlocked or not

Locking Wireless Carrier Identification: In case the second-hand iPhone is simlocked you will know which Mobile Network locked it

iCloud Activation Lock: Showing if Find My iPhone is ON or OFF

Blacklist Status: Usually, when a used iPhone is iCloud Locked, it is also blacklisted. An iPhone gets blacklisted as soon as the original owner report it as lost or stolen. On top of that, when there are pending contract bills or the iPhone was involved in fraudulent activities it will also become blacklisted (aka barred). Of course, you can’t use any SIM card with a Blacklisted iPhone unless it’s unbarred.

Contract Status: Learn if the iPhone remains under contract with the previous owner. If it is on contract then there is always the danger of unpaid contract bills that will blacklist your used iPhone purchase.

Financial Balance Status: Find out if there are any tariff deficiencies that can blacklist the iPhone

Apple Warranty/AppleCare Warranty Status: If the Phone is still protected by a warranty then the original owner can still report it as lost or stolen and get your iPhone blacklisted.

Replaced IMEI/Serial Number Status: There is an illegal iPhone unlocking procedure which works by replacing the iPhone’s motherboard. When Apple finds it out (and it will find it out), the iPhone is flagged as replaced and gets inside the blacklist. The IMEI Check Report will show you the original IMEI and Serial number of the iPhone and also if they were replaced.

How iPhone IMEI Check Service works

Certified IMEI Check providers like Unlockspector have authorized access to Apple’s GSX databases. Every iPhone’s IMEI number is stored in there with all the info (and more) you saw above. The only thing they need to check your iPhone is the IMEI number of the iDevice (just dial *#06# or check out how to find an iPhone’s IMEI number).

Activating a used iPhone with Find My iPhone Lock enabled

Now that we are certain about the overall status of the iCloud Locked iDevice you want to activate we can talk about iCloud Lock Deactivation.

How to activate a second-hand iPhone when you know the original owner

This is the easiest situation. Many times iPhone seller forget to turn off iCloud Activation Lock. In this case, just contact the iPhone’s previous owner and ask her to disable Find My iPhone. If she lives near you, you can also bring back the iPhone to her and you are done.

If the original owner doesn’t know how to deactivate iCloud Lock then this is the process:

How to activate a refurbished iPhone when you don’t have original owner’s contact information

Ok, you need to be completely careful from now on. If you bought an iCloud locked iPhone then you most probably bought a stolen iPhone. No one can accuse you of that but let’s take some things into consideration.

The original owner is the only person in the whole world that can remove the iCloud lock. It is moral and it is legal.

There are ways to locate used iPhone’s original owner through Apple Support, explain the situation and ask for Find My iPhone Deactivation. The procedure can get tricky and there are a few other ways to arrange things with Apple.

On top of that, there are a few iCloud Unlock Free Guides for iOS 11 that don’t require to download any kind of software but exploit iOS 11 flaws. None of them worked for me but there are visitors that claim that it worked

If you want to know about all the possible ways of iCloud Unlocking there is a cool eBook in iPhoneUnlock.Zone containing everything in the smallest detail and step by step guides about all methods plus what to do if your iPhone can’t be iCloud Unlocked.

Hey, I am Makis. I am a Chemical Engineer and as it’s natural, I was fascinated with iPhone technology since the release of the original iPhone. In 2013, I bought a used iPhone from an online market but it turned to be locked and I didn’t know what to do in order to use my SIM Card. Despite being a tech freak, I spent too much money and time trying out fake services and iOS exploits until I found UltraSnow.EU and managed to unlock my iPhone with success. Soon afterward I became part of the team in order to help people like me through Quora or here and right now iPhone Unlocking is my cup of tea!